A New Style
by Sims4000
Summary: Set during the events of XY episode 60. Serena's first ever Poke Performance ends in disaster, so what will she do to feel better? What will Ash do to help a friend he cares so deeply much about? Watch as two friends come close and change there style for a happy journey, together and alone. Armoushipping. Characters are 16, and a bit more mature. One-Shot! Possible Continuation.
1. Chapter 1

_**A New Style**_

**AN: This is an Armourshipping one shot that is set during/after the events of X&amp;Y Episode 60. It will contain some spoilers so read if you want. I wrote this one shot because I had the idea in my head and I didn't want it to go to waste, and I actually thought it was pretty good. Remember to read the other AN at the bottom, enjoy!**

**P.S. This will be rated T just for some mild language and a bigger audience!**

Lights were flashing as cameras went off repeatedly. The crowd could be heard cheering, yet it felt like everything was still and quiet to Serena Yvonne. She was standing in her private booth, going over last minute preparations with her Fennekin. She had put all of her effort into making Fennekin not just presentable, but truly beautiful. After double checking to make sure everything is perfect, the booth door opened up, revealing a large crowd before her. Her stomach dropped at the sight of the large crowd. She knew Coumarine city was small, but she had no idea this many people would show up to the rookie competition. She began to get nervous. She quickly scanned the crowd for her friends, particularly a raven haired boy. She always gained some confidence when she caught a glimpse of the boy she adored so much. After 5 seconds of quick searching, she found what she was looking for. They locked eyes and he gave her a confident smile and a thumbs up. This gave Serena the eagerness to show off what she is made of!

Serena stepped out of the booth with Fennekin. They both took a few steps and did some gracious twirls. They began to walk forward slowly, letting to crowd look at the work she had put into her and Fennekin's outfit. She took a glance around at the large crowd and began to grow a bit nervous again, but that nervousness was dispelled when she caught a glimpse of a pair of chocolate brown eyes. Ash was looking at her with a smile on his face. She could tell that he was proud of her, just by how the way his eyes were on her. She really had come a long way, but she was doing her best because of him. Fennekin and Serena reached the end of the runway. They stopped and posed together, and really just tried to looked there best for the crowd. After several seconds of showing off and waving, she turned around to return to the booth. This is when the worst thing possible happened. As Fennekin was walking next to Serena, she accidentally stepped onto her pink ribbon. This caused her to tumble down, messing up her entire outfit. Everything from her paw covers to her bead necklace went flying everywhere. The thing that was worse was that Fennekin didn't get up immediately, instead sat whimpering on the runway floor. Her leg was hurt, bad.

When Serena noticed Fennekin on the ground crying in pain, she immediately dropped the performance act and tended to her. She looked at Fennekin's hurt leg. She wasn't a Pokemon doctor obviously, but she could tell by how Fennekin reacted that her leg was probably broken. Serena picked up Fennekin as carefully as she could and rushed off stage towards the Pokemon center. She didn't look back because of the swelling tears in her eyes, and didn't want to see how everybody was going to look at her. She had just ruined her first ever Pokemon performance, and she didn't want to see the disappointment in everybody's eyes She was using this as an excuse in her head, but in truth, she just didn't want to see the disapointment in Ash's.

"I'm sorry Ash," She thought quietly. "I'm so sorry..."

If only Serena knew she was wrong. If she would've looked at Ash, she would've seen nothing but worry. He was worried about Fennekin and Serena. She was one of his best friend, and someone he cared for a lot more than others. He followed Serena to the Pokemon Center, but lost her for a bit. He found her again sitting on a Pokemon center bench. She just sat there looking at her feet, not saying a word. Ash approached her slowly, and eventually was standing right in front of her.

"Serena?" Ash questioned slowly. "Are you alright? Do you need to talk?" Serena's head popped up at the voice of her raven haired crush. Her eyes were bloodshot and tear stained from the silent weeping she'd been doing. She just blankly stared into Ash's eyes. She then ran away, crying again. Ash didn't know why she ran away from him, but he decided not to chase after her. He felt as it was better to leave her alone for right now.

As the time went by, the Coumarine Pokemon Performance was eventually won by Shauna and her Bulbasaur. It really was a spectacular, as newcomers never really won events on there first time. Shauna's performance was outstanding either way. Ash had asked Nurse Joy how Fennekin was doing, and he got the answer he expected. Fennekin had broken her leg in the fall. Nurse Joy told Ash that she had already put her leg into a cast, and that she can go home later tonight when she woke up. Her pain medication had knocked her out for a bit. Ash had just decided to speak to Serena later tonight, so he decided to bide his time until then.

"I'll be here for you Serena," Ash said quietly "I hope you know that..."

_Several Hours Later_

It had been several long hours since the incident at the performance. Serena had been wandering around aimlessly for a while now. She had been thinking about what had happened at the performance. She had come to the conclusion that it was in fact fate that she messed up the performance. She had already run into Shauna and congratulated her in her win in the performance. Shauna, in turn, apologized about what happened to Serena and Fennekin. She knew Serena had a good chance of winning if her "accident" didn't hinder her performance. After her talk with Shauna, Serena felt a little bit better, but still felt horrible in a sense. After some time of wandering around, Serena found herself at Coumarine Docks. She was just looking into the ocean, reflecting on everything. She thought about how she hadn't actually come that far as a trainer, and how she couldn't even help keep her Pokemon from getting hurt. That's when the seal that was holding her pent up emotions in burst. After just 10 minutes of reflecting, Serena Yvonne broke down crying. She just began to let it all out.

_5 Minutes Earlier_

At the Coumarine Pokemon Center, Ash had decided it was time to go find and talk to Serena. He had come to the idea to bring Serena her Pokemon for comfort. He had put Pancham into his pokeball, but decided to carry Fennekin. He thought it might be uncomfortable to be in a tight pokeball with a broken leg. When he picked Fennekin up, she was overjoyed to see him, but curious to were her mommy was. Ash explained to situation to Fennekin and she understood. The two made it out of the Pokemon Center and down the sidewalk. It occurred to Ash that he didn't actually know where Serena was. He was about to get irritated until he heard Fennekin make a noise.

"Fennekin Fenn!"

Ash looked at Fennekin and saw she was pointing towards a dock with her nose. Ash concentrated hard on the docks, trying to see what Fennekin had seen. That's when he caught notice of what looked like a honey blonde hair girl to be on her knee's doing what looked like what to be crying. It took Ash a second, but he quickly realized that was Serena crying on the docks! He didn't want to startle her, so he walked up to the docks regularly, but quietly.

Ash and Fennekin were about 4 feet behind Serena, who was still crying. Fennekin looked up to Ash and he nodded back down to her. Fennekin then yipped "Fen!". This startled Serena and caught her attention, making her turn around.

"A-Ash... Fennekin?" She questioned in between tears. She saw her Fennekin's leg and began to quickly react with tears. "Fennekin's leg..." She stuttered quietly with new tears springing from her eyes. She hadn't even gone to see her own injured Pokemon yet, which should've been her main concern. She was being so selfish and it was wrong. "I'm so sorry..." She said in between silent tears. "Thanks fro bringing her here Ash, it means a lot." Ash looked at Serena and smiled. He really wanted to do all he could to help. Ash then remembered why he wanted to find her so much earlier.

"Hey Serena," Ash started slowly and quietly. "Why did you run away from me earlier? I wanted to help you, did I do something wrong?" Serena's head popped up in surprise. Had Ash thought he'd done something wrong this whole time? "No Ash," She quickly stated, almost yelling. "It's not your fault, it's mine actually." Ash held a confused look on his face that just spoke "why?". Serena knew she had to tell him, so she decided to get it over with.

"I ran away earlier because I didn't want to see you dissapointed in me..." She said this sadly, looking down at her feet, avoiding eye contact. "You've done so great with gym battles and raising your Pokemon while I can't even get past the first round of a stupid rookie Pokemon performance." Ash looked at her confusedly. He had to make sure he chose his next words carefully.

"Serena," Ash said confidentially. "I wasn't anywhere near disappointed with you. No matter what happened tonight, I still thought your act was the best out there, I even still voted for you!" Serena was surprised to hear this, but very happy at the same time.

"So Ash," Serena questioned slowly. "You aren't disappointed with me?" Ash looked at Serena happily and spoke. "Hell no Serena!" Ash spoke proud and loud. "If anything, I was worried about you and Fennekin, that's why I tired to talk to you earlier!" Serena was in complete awe of what Ash was saying. This raven haired boy had done so much in the world that anybody would be proud of him, and yet he wasn't disappointed in her.

"You've had so many great moments," Serena started. "Why are you still proud of me?" Ash laughed when he heard this.

"Because Serena," Ash started slowly, almost as he was embarrassed to tell her something. "Everyone has a rough start. Did you know that I was eliminated from my first ever Pokemon league because I was forfeited?" Serena looked at Ash with curiosity. Him out of all people were forfeited?

"You out of all people were forfeited" Serena questioned shocked. "What happened?" Ash looked at her with an embarrassed smile with his hand rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah," Ash started slowly. "My Charizard refused to listen to me. He thought he was to good for his opponent and took a nap..." Ash looked down at his feet disappointingly while Serena just stared in awe. Him, a trained with such high accolades behind his back, had a blunder that big? When Serena was about to question Ash about this league, he spoke back up.

"Basically," Ash started slowly. "It was the beginning of my journey. I wasn't the smartest kid, so I did what everyone else did and made mistakes." Serena looked at him and was surprised by his maturity. Sure he was 16, but he still acted younger at heart. It was one of the things she admired so much about him. It made her feel warm inside that he cared enough to act like this for her, but still, she majorly messed up. "But Ash," She almost said with a cry. "I ruined the very beginning of my journey." She started to cry again, but was stopped by something new. Ash was hugging her.

"Serena," Ash said comfortingly. "Everyone is going to make mistakes. If you keep at it, you'll be the best Pokemon Performer ever. Believe it!"

Serena was in complete awestruck, the boy she had loved so much had faith in her, and it made her happy. Right then and there, Serena Yvonne resolved to change herself. Not only change her appearance, but her way of training and choices. She was going to strive to be best Pokemon Performer out there, and with Ash by her side, she knew it was completely possible.

"Ash," Serena cooed softly, no longer crying. "Thank you so much." What she did next was a surprise to Ash. She leaned up and gave him a kiss on the cheek. It was short, but even for it being on the cheek, it felt amazing to both of them. It left Ash quiet and Serena quiet and blushing. Serena bent down and picked up Fennekin and cuddled her, apologizing for her leg. She was met by several licks to the face. She was forgiven, and that made her happier. Ash and Serena finally recovered from the silence from the quick kiss. They walked back to the Pokemon center, closer than before. The walk was silent, but not awkward. It was a pleasant silent. They were both happy right now, and didn't want to ruin it with words. Both were acting different right now, completely different, almost as a new style.

That new style had apparently made all the difference in the world. Ash and Serena's journey together (with Clemont and Bonnie of course!) was changed by that night at the docks of Coumarine City. The morning after her talk with Ash, she woke up before everyone to get a new haircut and buy some new clothes. She returned to everyone to receive a shock of her new appearance. Her once relatively long honey blonde hair was now a shoulder length cut! She had also come up with a brand new wardrobe and hat. (I'm not going to describe these as I am bad with describing specific clothing.) Everyone was surprised by the sudden change, but liked it nevertheless. Ash even went as far to call her beautiful, earning a blush from her. There journey exploded from there. Ash came to a new dedication with his training and made his way to the Pokemon League. Serena also took to her performance making it all the way to the finals to compete for Kalo's queen, and not surprisingly, it was against Shauna and her Ivysaur. After a long fought battle with Braixen, who'd evolved not long from Fennekin not long after healing from her broken leg, Serena and Braixen fell just short of Shauna and her Ivysaur. Serena was sad though. She was still proud of how herself and Braixen, seeing as how far they each had come. She had added two more Pokemon to her family. One was a young Eevee, who was a spoiled girl, and a infant Pichu, who was a boy.

Ash ended up at the Pokemon League hoping to do his best, and he did perform. After a hard fought league, Ash had actually ended up tying for 1st place with a new rival he'd made at the league, CJ, or Charles Junior. Ash's team from Kalo's had consisted of Pikachu, Greninja (Who'd evolved during the Kalo's league itself.), Hawlucha, Goodra, and Talonflame. He hadn't kept a whole team as he switched out other Pokemon he had to be fair. His new rival Charles team consisted of an Eevee, a Pidgeot, Chesnaught, Hydregion, Ninetales, and a Crobat. The final battle came down to Ash's Pikachu and Charlie's Eevee, who had happened to be the trainers starters as well. Both Pokemon, after a relentless battle, finally fell at the exact same moment. It was so close that it couldn't tell who hit the ground first. Both Ash and Charles were in awe, but were happy. They were given a chance to have a rematch against each other, but both declined as they knew the outcome would be the same as the first. They decided to share the title. After all the events in the Kalo's region, Ash knew it was some times to make some important decisions.

What was he going to do next? What about Serena? Ash didn't know what or how he was going to do, but he had grown close to Serena, and he'd be damned if they gave that up all right now. No, that wasn't part of his style.

**Authors Note: Well I hope you guys enjoyed this One Shot! I really enjoyed writing it and I thought it was pretty good. It set during the events of XY episode 60 so there might be some spoilers, and in this story, Ash and Serena are 16 each. I wrote this One Shot with an idea of a story to go along with this, but I'm still thinking about writing in. It would more than likely be a once or twice a month thing as I am currently working on my main story. If you want me to continue this one shot as a complete story, please tell me! Please leave a follow/favorite on the story if you enjoyed it, and drop a review if you want to tell me something! Reviews really help and I love to read them all, whether it be constructive criticism or praise, I love it all and use it to better my writing. I haven't wrote an Armourshipping story yet, so I hope you guys like it! I hope you enjoy, and thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

_**A New Style Chapter 2**_

**AN: Hey guys! If you've read my profile, which I've recently updated, you'll see that I said I was going to update this soon. Here it is, enjoy! Look at the bottom for a more in depth AN!**

It was a peacefully quiet day. Ash Ketchum was currently sitting in a plane seat, 30,000ft above the ocean. Right now, he was on his way back to his home in the Kanto region, and this time, he wasn't alone. No, I'm not talking about his forever companion Pikachu, there was actually another person with him. That person was Serena Yvonne. She had decided to come back to Kanto for a little while to visit old friends and have a nostalgic vacation, or at least that's what she told Ash. She actually had a completely different motive.

_***FLASHBACK***_

_**(2 Days Prior)**_

Serena was currently sitting in the kitchen while her mom was just cleaning up around her. It was about a week after Ash's tie for first in the Kalo's League. He'd decided to stay with Serena and her mom's for a bit to relax after all the traveling. He was currently in the shower, enjoying the peacefulness he was getting right now.

Serena was sitting her kitchen table looking at what she was holding in her hands. What she held were two plane tickets to the Kanto region. One was obviously for Ash, while the other was for her. Serena hadn't explained everything to her mom yet, but she wanted to stay in Kanto. Her mom currently thought she was going for nostalgia, but that was a lie, and It made Serena feel bad knowing she was doing so to her mother. She just didn't want to leave the Raven haired boy she traveled the region with.

"Hey Mom," Serena mumbled slowly. "Can I talk to you? While Ash is in the shower?"

Grace looked up from the sink and turned off the water she'd been previously running.

"Sure sweetie," Grace answered sweetly. She stepped over to the kitchen table and sat in front of her daughter and smiled gently.

"What do you want to say honey?" Grace asked.

Serena avoided her moms gaze, with her eyes focused on the plane tickets in her hands. She knew that this would only get harder the longer she waited.

"W-Well..." Serena mumbled barely audible. "I wanna talk about my trip to Kanto."

Grace looked at Serena with a confused face. "What do you wanna talk about honey?"

Serena started to get nervous. She was scared of what her mother was going to say. She was scared of her disapproval.

"I w-want...to stay in Kanto." Serena stuttered.

Her mother looked at her with a confused look, probably because she wasn't expecting that to be what she wanted to talk about.

"What do you mean stay in the Kanto?" Grace questioned curiously. "Isn't that what you're doing already?"

Serena groaned with irritation, but she understood what her mom thought.

"No mom," Serena said with a small groan. "I know I'm already staying for a week, but I mean staying longer, permanently."

Grace looked at Serena. "Oh really?"

Serena got nervous again. This was the big thing she had to tell her mother, and she was actually going through with it.

Well you see..." Serena said calmly. "I want to stay in Kanto, as in live there..."

Grace looked at her daughter intensely. "Can you define 'stay' in Kanto?" She asked curiously.

Serena got nervous again. "M-Mom, I want to live in the Kanto region," She said reassuringly. "I wanna live closer to Ash."

Grace's eyes lit up a bit after hearing this, mainly because she was already half expecting it. It also made her smile, because it made her fully realize her daughter certainly had grown up during her trip around Kalo's.

"Let me ask you this Serena," Grace said. "Are you sure you want to leave Kalo's and live in Kanto?"

Serena smiled, mainly because this was an easy question for her. She knew her answer was yes and there was no doubt about it. She didn't want to leave Ash.

"Yes mom," Serena said. I've made my decision and I'm sure that I want to live in Kanto!"

Grace smiled as she saw and her this confidence glowing from her daughter. She really couldn't be prouder as a mother.

"Well sweetie," Grace said cheerfully. "I'll support you all the way. You're my beautiful daughter! Besides, I know what love is like sweetie. I've been there before."

This made Serena blush immensely.

"MOM!" Serena screamed. Grace just laughed because she found it entertaining and was happy for her daughter. It wasn't very often you got to tease your only daughter about her first love. Grace also found it very hopeful that Serena was taking initiative. She was always the type to let opportunities to pass by quietly. It made her proud as a mother that she wasn't going to let this possible once in a lifetime opportunity pass by.

"Serena," Grace called. "Just promise me you'll do whatever you can to be happy. That's all I want from you."

Serena looked at her mother, still with a small blush and large smile on her face. She just smiled at her mother, and that was all that was needed.

"Yup," Grace thought. "She'll be alright, she's my daughter after all."

_***FLASHBACK ENDS***_

And here she was. She hadn't actually had a chance to bring up this news to Ash. It was either that, or she hadn't thought of a good way to actually tell him. She told herself she would she'd find a way to do it later, but for now, all she would do is rest.

After some time, the plane finally landed in Pewter City International Airport. Serena looked over to Ash to see him soundly sleeping, with Pikachu on top of his head doing the same. She thought the scene was to cute, so she decided the take a picture of the rare moment of peacefulness.

_*****FLASH*****_

As the flash went off, Ash and Pikachu started to shuffle around. Ash opened his eyes and looked around blankly, as if he'd forgotten were he was. He caught a glimpse of Serena and quickly remembered where he and the latter were.

"Oh, hey Serena," Ash chimed nonchalantly. "It looks like we landed in Pewter. I wonder how much longer they'll keep us on the plane."

Serena shrugged, as if she was saying she didn't know when they'd get off the plane either.

"I don't know, but I sure know I can't wait to get back to the ground!" Serena chirped excitedly.

They sat on the plane for another 10 minutes before a young stewardess's voice came on over the intercom.

"Hello passengers!" An enthusiastic voice rang out. "Thank you for waiting patiently with us! You may now exit your seat and proceed to exit the pane. Thank you for choosing Pewter Airline, and have a good day!"

Both Ash and Serena sighed with relief. They both would be lying if they said they'd enjoyed the plane ride immensely. Ash might've been tied for 1st in the Kalo's league, but a cross regional plane trip wasn't cheap for anyone. Surprisingly, the 2nd place prize Serena had received was well more than Ash's first place prize, but Ash had still been insistent on paying for her flight as well. It was another thing Serena admired about him, he had something a lot of people, let alone guys didn't have, chivalry.

After 45 minutes of traversing the surprisingly busy airport, the two trainers finally made it to the front of the airport were they began to hail a cab.

"So Ash," Serena questioned. "Were are we going next?"

Serena looked over to Ash to see a goofy, yet excited smile on his face,

"There's a friend here that runs a gym in this city," Ash said excitingly. "I think it;s time I visited and had a rematch. Our first match really wasn't an actual match, and we owe it to each other."

Serena could see the excitement in Ash's eyes, as well as hear it in his voice as well. She could tell he'd been waiting for this.

"Well then," Serena said confidently. "Let's get goin!"

"Awesome!" Ash said with a fist thrust. "I already got us a cab, and hopefully it'll be here soon."

About two minutes after saying that, the cab finally showed. To Serena, this cab was a bit odd.

"Hey Ash," Serena stared oddly at the 'cab'. "That cab looks different than the ones in Kalo's, why?"

Ash opened the door and spoke.

"Things are different here in Kanto," He chimed happily. "Here, we don't have Yellow Cab here, we have a different service called 'Uber'."

Serena was motioned into the normal looking car by Ash, with a confused face plastered on it.

"What is Uber?" Serena asked curiously.

Ash smiled and buckled in.

"It's a cab service," Ash said happily. "but ordinary people use there regular cars. It's mainly what some people do for extra cash and time killing." Ash explained happily to Serena.

Serena listened in near awe, not just because of these newly discovered Uber's, but at the fact that she's back in Kanto. She knew from the get go that she had so much to do and see here. Everything from landmarks, gyms, relatives, there was just so many things that she wanted to do, and by the way things were looking, she'd have plenty of time to do so!

After a 10 minutes drive that really consisted of Ash speaking up occasionally when something he thought was cool drove by, the two young trainers finally arrived at the Pewter Gym. Ash gladly paid the Uber driver, which had come out to $10.71. Serena was in awe of the price, mainly because Luminoise City taxi's would have cost around $45 for the same distance. It was insane!

After Ash finished paying the driver, he turned to Serena.

"Hey Serena," he said eagerly. "Let's get inside, I can't wait for you guys to meet!"

Serena smiled at Ash and headed into the gym. Knowing the boy she'd come to love so much, she was in for one hell for one hell of a time.

_**Author's Note: Hello everyone! It's weird that I haven't updated this until now, but yeah, it's updated! I'm officially continuing this story because I can across a couple good idea's I want to expand on. I wanna thank you all for continuing to read this :D. To everyone new, how'd you like it? I could always use critique, and there isn't such a thing as bad advice. As for this chapter, it's one I've been working on for a while now and am happy to have it uploaded. It's like another introductory chapter, so chapters to come might be of better quality than this one. Last thing, please don't expect very many updates for this in succession. I will be working on this when I have free time (which isn't very often right now Lol), and when I do get a chapter out, I'll make sure it's the best of quality! Make sure to leave a follow and favorite if you enjoyed the story. You'll get updates of when I post and all. Also, leave a review to give me advice and to tell me what you thought of the chapter/story! I love reading them and they really do help, and plus they're awesome for leaving suggestions of what you want to see later on in the story! Thanks for reading guys!**_


	3. Chapter 3

**A New Style Chapter 3**

Full authors note at the bottom!

The Pewter Gym was a very quiet and large place, at least, it was much larger to Ash than it was last time. It still looked the same though, large rocks and boulders everywhere. It was almost as if it was a bit comforting to Ash to see a place he hasn't seen in such a long time. Ash gazed up to see something that caught his eye and made him chuckle. It was a sprinkler system. It wasn't the same sprinkler system as last time though, this one looked like it'd been changed a bit. He held in a laugh as he looked over to Serena.

Serena was in awe at the moment. She had seen her fair share of gyms, actually all of the gyms in Kalos, but this gym was unique to her. She looked at Ash to see that he'd looked over to her and was smiling.

"Weird huh," Ash said while standing in front of the doorway. "This is a simpler gym, pretty different from many others. It doesn't have any fancy flooring or decorative pieces. It just has two trainer platforms and a bunch of boulders. It's a classic!"

Serena smiled at Ash because she could see that this place was somewhere that brought a legitimate smile onto his face.

"Well, it sure is different than the gyms in Kalos." Serena said with an almost awestruck voice.

Ash and Serena walked a little further into the gym towards the battle field, when they heard and saw the back doors open and someone come out from them.

"Hey," The unknown person called out. "Who's there?"

Ash smirked and yelled back. "It's me, Ash Ketchum!"

The unknown person rubbed his head for a second until it clicked in his mind.

"Oh yeah," The person said knowingly. "My brother talks about you a lot. Let me go and see if he's around."

With that, the person then turned around and walked back through the doors. Some basic yelling could be heard in the background, but it was un-intelligible. Serena turned to see how Ash was reacting, and she saw he was almost jumping in place. She could tell he was excited to see his friend. Hopefully he was even here.

"Ash," Serena said. "Are you really this excited to see your friend?"

Ash grinned largely and looked at her.

"Oh boy you don't understand Serena." Ash said excitedly. "This is like if you would go two or three years without seeing Shauna even once, I'm so excited!"

Serena smiled, mainly because she could understand his excitement after that comparison. Shauna had become one of her, if not her best friend during the Pokemon performances. Waiting so long to be able to see her would make her excited to see her again after a long time as well, although not as much as Ash she assumed. Ash always did everything bigger than anyone she knew. Hell, that's a reason she loved him so much.

After a few minutes passed, the back doors opened again. This time a bigger man walked out. To Serena, he just looked like an older and bigger version of the boy she'd seen a few minutes ago, but to Ash, it was like this was Santa on Christmas Eve.

Ash cupped his hands over his mouth and yelled "HEY BROCKO!", garnering a laugh from both Ash and person so far known as "Brocko".

The mystery man (to Serena at least) finally reached her and Ash. Ash and the man proceeded to shake hands and share a friendly hug. Ash then turned his and the mans attention to Serena.

"Hey Serena," He said happily. "This is one of my oldest friends and someone I used to travel with a lot, Brock!"

Brock extended his hand out to Serena.

"Hey Serena," Brock said sweetly. "I'm Brock, and it's a pleasure to meet you."

A friendly blush graced Serena's face, mainly because she wasn't expecting this type of nice hospitality.

"Hey Brock," Serena greeted cheerfully. "I'm Serena, and it's also my pleasure to meet you." She shook Brock's hand lightly, not wanting him to crush hers. He seemed to have a very smooth and gentle touch, and it was kinda surprising, as he looked like more of brute type of guy.

He then turned back to Ash, which was to be expected, mainly because they were best friends and hadn't seen each other in so long.

"So Ash," He started smoothly. "I heard you tied for 1st place in the Kalos League, congrats dude. It's almost like yesterday that you were in here trying to cheat yourself a boulder badge."

Hearing this, Ash laughed, mainly because it was basically true, HE technically didn't defeat Brock, the bad sprinkler system at the time did.

"The good old days," Ash said nostalgically. "Matter of fact, that's actually a pretty big reason I came here today. Yeah I wanted to see you in all and introduce to Serena, but I feel as a rematch is in order. Lets see if I truly earned that Boulder Badge."

Brock smiled excitingly. "Well Ash, I don't know about you, but I'm ready right now," Brock looked at Ash cockily. "Unless you're not ready."

Ash grinned largely and stared at Brock.

"Brock," He said slowly. "You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this rematch. Lets go!"

Just then, the other person who was out there earlier walked back through the doors.

"What's going on big brother?" The boy said staring at Brock.

Brock nodded the boy over to him.

"Everyone," Brock said almost proudly. "This is my little brother Forester. He'll be the next gym leader one day."

"People just call me Forest, nice to meet you!" Forest said cheerfully. She could tell her was overall a very sweet person. Just like his older brother.

Brock spoke up to Forester. "Hey little brother," Brock motioned Forest kindly. "Do you mind being the official for me and Ash's rematch? I'd really appreciate it."

Forest smiled. "Sure big brother," Forest said happily. "But you owe me big time later!"

Brock fist bumped his brother happily, and he and Ash separated, going to the opposite ends of the battle field.

Serena made her way to the side of the field, next to Forest. She wanted to be out of the way of the battle and still have a great view of the battle.

Both Brock and Ash looked at each other from the other side, highly anticipating this for a long time. They both gripped a single Pokeball from there sides. This is when Serena noticed that Pikachu wasn't by Ash's side, but next to her. Pikachu was currently playing with Pichu! She hadn't even noticed the baby Pokemon had escaped his ball. She decided that he was in safe hands and went back to the match, which Forest was just about to start.

Forest took in a deep breath.

"**This will be an official one on one Gym battle between challenger Ash Ketchum and Gym leader Brock. There will be no substitutions on either side, with the first to faint being declared the loser."**

"**BATTLE"**

Brock started first. "GO STEELIX"

The large iron snake Pokemon appeared from it's ball and gave a loud roar, showing off that it's this Pokemon's gym and that it won't go down easily.

"STEEEEEEEEEL" The snake-like Pokemon roared.

Ash smiled at this, seeing Brock wasn't going to hold back.

"Alright Goodra," Ash said confidently. "Come on out and show what you're made of!"

The slime-like Pokemon entered the field and and looked around, a bit confused it seemed. It then saw it had an opponent and realized it's situation.

"Being the challenger, Ash Ketchum is to make the first move." Forest bellowed out.

Ash grinned happily at this.

"Alright Goodra," Ash yelled excitedly. "Lets start it out with dragon pulse!"

Goodra nodded it's head and let out a purple-ish flame from it's mouth. It soared directly towards Steelix and hit it directly in the middle of its body. It didn't look like it did to much damage.

"Come on Ash," Brock taunted. "You know you'll have to do more than that. Steelix, use Rock throw."

Steelix hurled 3 medium sized boulders straight at Goodra, and it looked like they would hurt.

"Goodra," Ash yelled worriedly. "Use Dragon pulse to try and destroy those boulders!" Goodra agreed with the decision and quickly launched a dragon pulse, which was successful in destroying 2 of the boulders, but the final one hurled straight into Goodra.

"Oh no," Ash breathed out. "Goodra, are you alright?"

Goodra looked over to Ash and cooed slightly with a smile. "Gooooo".

Ash smiled and got his head back into the game. "Alright Goodra," As he was talking, he suddenly had an idea. "Goodra, use dragon pulse up on the ceiling, aim for the sprinklers!"

Goodra was confused on why he would do that, but he trusted his master enough to put his faith in him. He launched a dragon pulse to the ceiling, and about 3 seconds later, the sprinkler system activated.

"What?" Brock said confused. "Wait, you're not doing this again, are you?"

Brock looked at Ash to see a smirk on his face.

"Do what you gotta do to win Brocko." Ash said with a smile. Brock got a bit angry and happy at the same time, mainly because he missed this part of Ash, but didn't want to lose again!

"Oh yeah?" Brock questioned. "Well we're not gonna let this happen so easily. Steelix, use Dig!"

The steel Pokemon quickly burrowed underground. That's when Ash understood what Brock was doing. He went somewhere where he was safe from the rain and hidden from Goodra.

"Goodra," Ash shouted with concern. "Be careful out there, Steelix could be anywhere under you!"

Goodra understood it's situation and trudged around carefully. It knew it couldn't stand still for to long, because that meant it would be pick off and probably finished quickly.

After a few minutes, Brock smiled happily. "Alright Steelix," He yelled with confidence. "Come on up and use dig!"

Before Goodra knew it, he felt the steel Pokemon emerge out from under him. He was swept off the ground and pushed in the air before being pummeled back down to the earth. Steelix retreated back to Brock's side of the field and waited for its next command.

Ash looked at Goodra with concern. That was a nasty hit he'd just taken and it didn't look to good for Goodra.

"Goodra," Ash yelled in concern. "Are you ok?"

Ash was answered by a small "Gooo", which told him Goodra was fine. He knew it couldn't take much more, so he had to do something now.

"Alright," Ash yelled with determination. "Get up and use Bide, we'll use his own power against him!"

Goodra got up swiftly and roared it's roar while starting to glow brightly.

Brock saw this and knew he had to finish this quickly.

"Steelix," He yelled hurriedly. "Try and finish this with Iron tail!"

Steelix bellowed and swung towards Goodra with its mighty tail which was glowing at this point. Both Ash, Brock, Serena, Forest, and even Pichu and Pikachu were watching intently as Steelix's tail dove towards Goodra. It soon made contact, knocking Goodra back a bit. Ash could see Goodra was in pain from that hit, but it's bide absorbed a decent amount of the attack. Ash smiled at this, while Brock was in shock that Goodra was still up.

"Alright Goodra," Ash yelled confidentially. "Let's finish this battle! Release your bind!"

Goodra released it's somewhat powerful bind attack directly at Steelix, which was hit fully force. After the dust from the attack cleared, you could see that Steelix was knocked out cold by the attack.

"**Steelix is unable to battle, the winner of this match is Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town."**

"YEAHHH," Ash yelled happily as he rushed out and hugged Goodra. "We did it buddy! Great job!"

After a quick celebration, Ash and Brock both returned to the side where Serena and Forest were waiting.

"Well Ash," Brock started almost proudly. "You sure have grown up a bit as a trainer. How about I take you and Serena out to dinner for the great match? My treat."

Ash looked at Brock with an excited grin, then looked over at Serena with almost a begging look on his face. Serena already knew what he wanted and was hungry as well, so she wouldn't complain.

"I don't mind honestly," Serena said cheerfully. "I'm actually kind of hungry myself!"

Ash smiled and cheered happily. Brock looked over and talked with his brother in private for a sec, and then came back to the two trainers.

"How about we leave our Pokemon here with Forest." Brock suggested. "He's also a really good Pokemon cook and can clean them up while we're out."

Ash looked at Serena to see what she wanted to do. Serena knew Ash trusted Brock and his family fully, so she should too!

"I'm fine with it." Serena said. "I think it would good for Pichu to be cleaned too, he's been a dirty rascal lately."

Ash smiled as they both handed there Pokemon over to Forest, who took them with care. After that, Brock held the door open and spoke up.

"I have the perfect place to go guys, come on!"

**Authors Note: Well hi there Lol. Kind of a cut off ending there, but if I decided to go any longer from there, it would've went to far on for my liking. I'm glad to be back to writing a bit more, as I really enjoyed this chapter, mainly because it was my first ever battle! Tell me how you guys liked it! Now onto the actual chapter review.**

**This chapter was one I planned from the beginning and it came out just like I envisioned. The battle went nice to me, and I chose to use Goodra over Pikachu because I don't wanna over-centralize him being Ash's main Pokemon. I wanna keep it somewhat diverse. The only semi-major change is that I was originally going to do a double battle of Ash and Serena vs Forest and Brock, but I decided to keep my first battle scene sweet and simple. Otherwise, that was basically it for this chapter because I wanted to keep it nice and sweet. The next chapter should actually be about 70% filler-ish, with the ending part more towards story development, mainly because I truly don't have a major idea of what I want the main thing for this story to be. The struggle of a writer Lmao. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, because I enjoyed writing it immensely. If you have any feedback/criticism/hate, leave a review, I'll reply to it no matter what. They really do make me happy and make me wanna right more! If you wanna get updates for this story, remember to favorite/follow to be notified when I do something to it.**

**Other than that, thanks for reading guys! I'll try and update at a reasonable time next time! **


	4. Chapter 4

**A New Style Chapter 3 **

***Relatively Important Authors Note at Bottom***

"So Ash," Serena said almost confused. "What restaurant are we going to exactly?" Serena looked around vividly as she took in her environment. It'd be obvious she was a bit nervous, be that she is in a new city. Thankfully to her, she had the support of the black haired teenager she had fallen for.

"Don't worry Serena," Ash said confidentially. "I trust Brock with anything, especially if it involves food!"

Ash's nearly un-human obsession with anything that tastes good make Serena smile, that and his re-assurance and trust in Brock, who'd actually just stopped in front of the door of a regular looking restaurant.

"Don't worry guys," Brock said almost carefree. "We're here now anyway. I present to you, the P2 Grill-house. One of the finest, and not very expensive places to eat in not only Pewter, but the entire Kanto region!"

Brock opened the door and signaled both Ash and Serena in, with Ash leading the charge straightforward to the seating area. Brock tear-dropped after seeing Ash was in no wait for anyone else.

"Well," Brock sighed while coming to Serena's side. "Ash sure hasn't changed all that much in the years we've been apart."

Serena smiled because she expected he'd been like this for a while now.

"Yeah," She said happily. "Up until a little while ago, we couldn't really afford to go to many restaurants, and when we could, we had a tight schedule."

This earned a laugh from Brock.

"Yeah, things don't seem to change much over time. Thank god I could cook decently." With that, he motioned Serena and himself to join Ash, who'd annoyed a waiter to seat them as fast as possible.

The three were taken to a booth near the back, where is was quite and peaceful. Brock took one side of the booth, and Serena expected Ash to follow next to him, but that isn't what happened. Ash stood next to the empty booth side and motioned Serena nicely into the seat, which she took without thinking, and then he slid right next to her. Close to her, but no close enough to think she was bothering him.

"You don't mind if I sit next to you," Ash questioned. "Do you Serena?"

Serena blushed furiously. "No, not at all." She managed to squeak out before a waiter came to them.

"Hello there," The waiter said politely. "My name is Adam, and I'll be serving you today. Can I get some drinks to start you off?"

Adam took everyone's drink orders, which all happened to be water. After that, they all just sat there and talked. Brock and Serena got to know each other much better, with them both learning they're actually quite similar to each other. They both like to cook, they love Pokemon, and they both loved there travels with Ash.

Brock eventually asked Ash about his journey, and Ash didn't hold back about his glorious adventure. He told Brock about all of the gyms he faced, the new rivals he made, and all the amazing friends he made. He also mentioned Mega evolution to Brock, who actually knew more than both Serena and Ash would have thought.

"Yeah," Brock said knowingly. "Mega evolution has been a big topic to talk about in Kanto recently, and there are even a few people who have Pokemon and stones capable of doing so."

Saying that, Brock smirked happily and reached into his pocket and pulled out a pendant with a shining blue-ish stone in it.

"And luckily I was able to be one of those trainers." Brock said with an extremely large smile on his face. This is when Ash spoke up.

"Then why didn't you use it when we battled earlier." Ash said with a purposely saddened frown, which caught a small laugh from Serena.

"I didn't think it'd be fair to you," Brock said while scratching the back of his head nervously. This made Ash smirk.

"Well Brock," Ash said confidentially. "You're not the only one that keeps things hidden." This really had Brock on the edge of his seat from pure excitement.

"What?" Brock Questioned. "What did you not show me?"

Ash smirked at his eagerness, but he had intent to make him pay for making him wait.

"How about this," Ash said. "Next time I get in a battle with someone who has a mega evolution, you'll be able to see it in full effect. Deal?"

Brock frowned because he didn't want to wait, but that frown turned into a smile of excitement, because he knew Ash Ketchum was always eager to battle, so It wouldn't be a ling wait."

The rest of the day, the three ate what was probably the best meal they'd all had in ages. In the end, it wasn't very expensive either, only $35 for all 3 of them.

After Brock paid for there meal, they all headed back to the Gym to pick up there Pokemon and head on there way. Brock and Ash exchanged PokeGear numbers, as did Brock and Serena. After saying there final goodbyes, Ash and Serena made there way towards Pallet Town. Since Pewter City was so close to Pallet Town, they just made the walk themselves.

Along the way, they let there Pokemon out to be with them, mainly because they'd not seen them all that much that day. Greninja and Hawlucha just walked calmly next to Ash and Serena, enjoying the time outside. Goodra had come out and walked for a bit, but was still a bit tired from its battle earlier, and went back in it's ball to rest. Talonflame was soaring above them, entertaining the small passenger it'd been carrying, who happened to be Serena's baby Pichu. Braixen was walking on the other side of Serena, while Eevee had insisted on being held because she didn't want to get to dirty.

After about an hour of walking Ash and Serena returned there Pokemon to there Pokeballs as they arrived to Pallet Town. It was about 8:30 at night at the time, so it'd just gotten gotten dark at the time. Ash decided he'd go visit everyone with Serena first thing in the morning, and that'd he get home to let his mom know he was okay, and besides, he wanted to introduce Serena right away!

Ash and Serena eventually made it to Ash's home, where Ash didn't even knock before entering the household. They were greeted by a Pokemon holding a broom, looking like it'd just finished cleaning.

"Hey," Ash said happily. "It's Mimey." Ash walked over and patted the cleaning Pokemon on the head.

"Mimey?" Serena questioned. "Why did you call that Mr. Mime Mimey?"

Ash smiled. "It's just something my mom called it when they met. I guess it just stuck."

At the mention of mother, Delia Ketchum walked into the living room to see what the commotion was. She instantly smiled when she saw her nearly grown up son in the living room.

"Ash," She said ecstatically. "how long have you been here sweetie!?"

Ash rubbed the back of his head embarrassingly as his mom lunged towards him and gave him a massive, breath taking hug.

"I haven't been here that long mom, jeez" Ash said softly. "Anyway, I have a guest with me. Mom, meet Serena Yvonne."

Serena waves gleefully, hoping to make a good impression.

"Hello Ms. Ketchum," Serena said happily. "My name is Serena, and I'm so happy to meet you!"

Delia smiled, then a thought popped into her head.

"Mind me asking," Delia questioned cautiously. "But have you ever been here before, because I recognize your name and beautiful hair."

Serena immediately knew what Delia was referencing too. "Yes actually. I attended a Pokemon camp that Professor Oak hosted when I was a young child."

"It's actually were I met Ash." Serena said while attempting to hide a slight blush on her face, even though she doubts it went unnoticed.

"Well sweetie," Delia said with a warm smile. "I'm glad to see you back. I hope you enjoy your stay!."

Serena smiled nervously, deciding to tell her about how she's staying permanently at a different time.

Delia looked at the two and smiled. "Did you two eat yet?" She asked the pair. They both shook there heads happily, signaling they had. Ash spoke up, saying what was on both of there minds.

"Sorry to be in a rush mom," Ash said embarrassingly. "But me and Serena are really tired. We've been traveling all day and wanna rest a bit. I also told Serena she could stay here for as long as she wants, that's fine right?"

Delia smiled comfortingly. "Why yes sweetheart," She said warmly. "You can stay as long as you'd like while you're here!"

Ash motioned Serena into another room and they eventually ventured upstairs, where they reached a room that had a small wood board on the door that read "Ash's Room".

"You can use my room if you'd like," Ash said almost humbly. "I'll happily take the couch."

Serena smiled happily at this sweet gesture, but she didn't know she could do it.

"I don't know Ash," She started nervously. "This is your room and all, and I feel bad taking it." Ash smiled at here attempting to be a regular guest, but unfortunately, this was the Ketchum household, so that wouldn't fly.

"I'm sorry Serena," He said jokingly. "I can't take no for an answer tonight. If you have any questions, my moms room is down the hall, or I'm downstairs on the couch."

Serena smiled happily as Ash said his goodbyes and made his way downstairs. She went in the room and found it very well kept and quaint. Not to big, but not to small. She liked it, and hopefully, just hopefully, it'd give here the courage to talk to Ash about her feelings.

"I think I could enjoy this for a while." Serena said quietly as she got comfortable, and then she let sleep consume her, not wanting to be away from her dreams a minutes longer.

Authors Note – God I haven't updated this in a while as well. I'll do a chapter summary first, and then important announcements below.

First off, the trio had there dinner together at last, with Ash learning Brock could Mega evolve Steelix, but chose not too. Brock on the other hand learned that Ash's Greninja can do a special transformation of it's own. Now its weird, when I began writing this story, Ash hadn't gotten very far into Kalos, but at the time I'm posting, he is in the Kalos League, and If I remember the Japanese episode titles for the next few episodes, he actually wins. Him getting this far makes me think whether I want to go back to the earlier chapters and edit the League information to match the anime more, but I'll decide that later honestly. I'll more than likely just find a place for Alain and Mega Charizard X and Sawyer and Mega Sceptile somewhere later in the story, possibly as a rival somewhere. After that, nothing much happened in the chapter!

Now about this story in general. I actually don't know what I want to do with it honestly. I don't know what story route I wanna take, or even how to initially make the couple official. I'm assuming it'll just come to me sooner or later, but I don't know. I also don't know how much of a drive I have to write the story honestly, and no I don't mean I'm close to abandoning it, I just mean I have little inspiration at the moment, especially with my first college classes coming up. It's all up in the air right now of how much I actually want to write for this story.

Any who, if you like the chapter, make sure to follow/favorite/review to show your support! It always helps me and I love to see them pop up in my Gmail! If you have anything to say, don't hesitate to review or even pm me, as I'm always open to criticism, whether its good or bad. Thanks for reading everyone!


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